scourtneylawson

Encouragement, Reflection, Spiritual Growth

Breaking the Fear Code – Pt 1

Posted on November 28, 2023 by scourtneylawson

“The joy of the Lord is our strength.” .Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

As I was writing a success series, the word fear kept coming up. Who hasn’t experienced fear? So. we’re going to spend sometime digging up its roots. It’s a lie I’ve often found myself falling prey to. I think fear is the enemy’s number one most effective tool in his evil tool belt. By the way, it’s a tiny belt. He doesn’t need a lot of tools, because the few he has work so well. He knows it’s impossible to have joy and fear at the same time, so in essence, if he can get you to buy into fear, he steals your joy and your strength all in one strategic move. Have you ever been paralyzed by fear? Me too. Maybe God asked you to step out and do something you’d never done before and fearful thoughts flooded your mind. Thoughts like “You’re not good enough,” “What if you fail?” “You could never do that.” Unless you stood against the lies and their accompanying feelings, you probably just resigned yourself, gave into fear, and moved on missing what God had for you. Here is the truth. Feelings aren’t facts, but God’s Words are fact. Our weapon is His truth and He says, “we”You are more than an overcomer.” He says, “You are a new creature in Christ.” He says, “You can do all things through Christ.” Those are the facts!

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Joy, the Heart Check

Posted on April 9, 2021April 9, 2021 by scourtneylawson

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the source of true joy. Jesus said, if you want to be great, you need to be the servant of all. Apparently, inherent in achieving joy, is dying to self. I remember a wise person once told me that you never know if you have a servant’s heart until someone treats you like a servant. Has anyone ever treated you like a servant? I choose to think of it as a heart check, and if I find any resentment lurking, I find a way to go the second mile. It never fails to turn resentment into peace and pride into joy. Jesus taught us this in the principle of the second mile, Matthew 5:41. In the Roman culture of Jesus’ day, a soldier could force any citizen to carry his armor one mile. Jesus used this as an illustration to teach us how to get over resentment. He knew we’d resent the first mile, but the second mile was our choice. That second mile is where we are liberated from resentment and step into joy. True joy comes not from what we get, but from what we give.

Do you have a situation in your life where you need to go the second mile?

“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10:39

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Put On Those Shoes!

Posted on July 1, 2019 by scourtneylawson

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For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” Ephesians 6:15 NLT

Today, you may be the only Jesus that your family, friends, co-workers, and enemies will see. Take the Good News with you wherever you go – Light up your world with peace, joy, and freedom!

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 NLT

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Dress for Success – Pt 2

Posted on June 9, 2019June 9, 2019 by scourtneylawson

“having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” Ephesians 6:16b

Notice how these pieces of armor say “put on”? It is up to us to put it on. In the case of the breastplate, we’ve been gifted by God with His Righteousness. The Great Exchange: He took our unrighteousness and gave us His righteousness. Our job is to believe it and receive it!

“He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 Holman

That’s who you really are!

Parting words: Remember, the breastplate protects the heart. That’s the one thing we are exhorted in Scripture to guard above all else.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Dress for Success – pt. 1

Posted on June 6, 2019 by scourtneylawson

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“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth,” Ephesians 6:14a NLT

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,” Ephesians 6:14a NKJV

The belt in Roman times—known as the cingulum or balteus played a crucial role in the effectiveness of a soldier’s armor.

It held the scabbard that held his sword. Strips of leather hung off the belt to protect the lower body and held all the other pieces of armor together.

In other words, it is a key part of making all the other pieces of armor effective.

According to the Barna Group: 66% of Americans believe there is NO absolute truth (probably more now and rising daily.) As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to live God’s way not the world’s way. God’s Word is the foundation on which we build our lives in every area, if we want true and lasting success.

We need to study Scripture and listen to Biblical teaching to dispell the misbeliefs that we’ve gathered from exposure to the world’s philosophy. It’s everywhere, chipping away at our faith, it’s in public schools, even some Christian schools, the Discovery Channel, the news, everywhere we turn the enemy is trying to deceive us into believing that the Word of God is not literal, not infallible, that it’s just a book of allegories.

The devil’s game is to trick us into diluting our life by trying to get us to mix “just a little” of the world’s philosophy with God’s truth.

Each day, we get to chose, God’s truth or man’s.

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17 NKJV

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Half Dressed Is Still Mostly Naked

Posted on June 3, 2019 by scourtneylawson

“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6:13 NLT

*“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NKJV

I know we can have a tendency to get up in the morning and put on part of our armor and think we are good to go for the day. I know I’ve done it. However, it says “put on EVERY piece”. That’s where our safety lies. Fighting partly dressed is still not obedience.

*Suggestion: For clarity, read a verse in several translations, often that’s where you get your “aha” moment.

What does your daily wardrobe consist of? Half dressed is not dressed at all. I would say, you wouldn’t go to the store in your PJs, but I’ve been to Walmart. So, I will say it this way, you wouldn’t think of going to work, school, or the market with nothing on but a hat and a pair of shoes, why would it be any different for your spiritual outfit?

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Don’t Fight Naked

Posted on May 31, 2019 by scourtneylawson

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11-12 NKJV

Notice that we put on the armor of God. God left getting dressed for battle to us. He supplied the armor, we put it on. We also fight the battle with Him right by our side. No soldier would ever consider going into battle without their armor or without knowing the enemy and their strategy. Why is it as believers we think we can run into battle with no preparation, fight “naked” and think we will win?

Encouragement, Reflection, Spiritual Growth, Success

Encouragement from Paul

Posted on May 28, 2019May 28, 2019 by scourtneylawson

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“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10

Ephesians is a treasure trove of spiritual wisdom from the Apostle Paul who is thought to be the author, probably during his first imprisonment in Rome.

Ephesians 6 is filled with imagery of spiritual warfare. He opens the conversation by exhorting us to “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.”

This is so reminiscent of what God said to Joshua in 2 Chronicles 32:7. “Be strong and courageous.”

Our power comes from the One who is all-powerful. The closer we draw near to Him, the more we’re filled with His power, because He is the power source. I encourage you to plug into the power source today!

Encouragement, Success

Jesus Found Himself

Posted on May 27, 2019 by scourtneylawson

“Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27

Jesus spent most of his first 30 years on this planet searching for himself in Scripture. He was preparing himself for His mission to save mankind from the sentence of death brought by sin.

The Word of God also tells us who we are, and we’re to follow Christ’s example to search the Scripture daily to find who we are in Him. When we know who we are, and whose we are, it is our first step toward what we were created to do, our mission.

Every day the enemy comes to attempt to deceive us about who we are in Him, and to steal our joy, our vision, and our destiny through the distractions of this life. Our fortress is the Word of God.

Find yourself in it daily.

Encouragement, Leadership, Reflection, Success

You Find What You Look For

Posted on December 8, 2018 by scourtneylawson

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Lately, I’ve been doing word search puzzles to keep my mind sharp and to keep myself looking out of the box. However, here’s an interesting thing I’ve noticed, while I do see some words I am not specifically looking for, more often than not, I can get to the end of the puzzle and look for a word I’ve not seen the whole time;,, but when I consciously look for it, it just seems to pop off the page. It was there the whole time, I just kept looking past it, because it was not a word I was looking for at that moment.

What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? Well nothing, but today as I was looking for that last word; it instantly popped off the page. How many times had I looked right past it? This thought hit not just my head, but my spirit. “You see what you look for.” This is not only true in a word search puzzle, but in every aspect of our life as well.

When was the last time you asked yourself, “What am I looking for in my relationships, my health, and my wealth?” Whatever it is, you’ll find what your looking for.

I have to ask myself, am I looking for what is true, honorable, right, pure and lovely in my relationships, my health, and my wealth? Or, am I looking for what’s defective, missing, or wrong in those areas? Whatever I’m looking for, I’m pretty sure that is what I’ll find.

Sometimes we do have to deal with areas in our life that are not lining up with the Word of God. However, for the most part, if we look for what’s good, that will be what dominates and ultimately wins.

We tend to look for what we think about. If you want to know what that looks like, just check out what’s popping off the pages of your mind. This holiday season, let’s determine to step out in faith and look at life and others through the lens Philippians 4:8.

Philippians 4:8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” NLT